BACKGROUND: A allergic contact dermatitis has been increasing in the world. The first choice of treatment for the allergic contact dermatitis is topical steroids, but application of topical steroids may lead to many side effects. Physiogel(R) cream, made of ceramide, triglyceride, squalene and others is a moisturizer without any fragnance or preservatives which has effects of normalizing the damaged skin barrier and soothing troubled skin. OBJECTIVES: We carried out this study to evaluate the effects of the Physiogel(R) cream in the treamemt of the allergic contact dermatitis. METHODS: Among the patients clinically suspected to have allergic contact dermatitis due to fragnance or perservatives, patients already diagnosed with allergic contact dermatitis were included. On the skin lesions of the right side of individual patients the Physiogel(R) cream was applied twice a day. No topical agents were applied to the lesions of the left side. Two weeks later the clinical improvement of skin lesions was compared. RESULTS: In fourteen (61%) out of 23 patients the Physiogel(R) cream-applied lesions showed significant clinical improvement compared with the control lesions. In cases of atopic dermatitis or seborrheic dermatitis, the ratio of patients in whom the Physiogel(R) cream was efficacious, was 80% or 70% respectively. The skin lesions of all patients of 2nd and 3rd decades were significantly improved by the Physiogel(R) cream. In patients whose skin lesions were not responsive to the Physiogel(R) cream, patch test results showed the highest positive response rate against nickel (20%) and formaldehyde (20%). CONCLUSION: Physiogel(R) cream could be used as well as topical steroids in the treatment of allergic contact dermatitis reducing the risk of side effects due to long-term use of topical steroids.
Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Dermatitis, Seborrheic ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Nickel ; Patch Tests ; Skin ; Squalene ; Steroids ; Triglycerides

BACKGROUND: The common allergens for patients with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) have changed with the passage of time. Ammoniated mercury was the most common allergen in the 1980s, but it has been replaced by nickel sulphate. OBJECTIVE: We wanted to delineate the recent alterations of common allergens of Korean ACD patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical recordings of the patients who were diagnosed with ACD and we performed patch tests on these patients from July 2005 to May 2008. A total of 676 patients were enrolled in this study and the medical records included the patients' age and gender, the site of ACD, the clinical pictures and the results of a Korean standard series of patch tests. RESULTS: The male to female ratio was 1.62 and the mean age of onset was 41.2+/-16.5 years. The most common ages of the ACD patients were the forties for males and the thirties for females. The most prevalent sites for ACD were the face, scalp and hands in males, while those for females were the face, hands and arms in order of frequency, respectively. The most common allergens were nickel sulfate for females and mercury ammonium chloride for males. CONCLUSION: For ACD, the relative proportion of male patients has recently been markedly enlarged. This phenomenon might be related to the increased use of men's cosmetic products, and the market for these products had tremendously expanded during the last decade.
Age of Onset ; Allergens ; Ammonia ; Ammonium Chloride ; Arm ; Cosmetics ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mercuric Chloride ; Nickel ; Patch Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Scalp

BACKGROUND: The common allergens for patients with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) have changed with the passage of time. Ammoniated mercury was the most common allergen in the 1980s, but it has been replaced by nickel sulphate. OBJECTIVE: We wanted to delineate the recent alterations of common allergens of Korean ACD patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical recordings of the patients who were diagnosed with ACD and we performed patch tests on these patients from July 2005 to May 2008. A total of 676 patients were enrolled in this study and the medical records included the patients' age and gender, the site of ACD, the clinical pictures and the results of a Korean standard series of patch tests. RESULTS: The male to female ratio was 1.62 and the mean age of onset was 41.2+/-16.5 years. The most common ages of the ACD patients were the forties for males and the thirties for females. The most prevalent sites for ACD were the face, scalp and hands in males, while those for females were the face, hands and arms in order of frequency, respectively. The most common allergens were nickel sulfate for females and mercury ammonium chloride for males. CONCLUSION: For ACD, the relative proportion of male patients has recently been markedly enlarged. This phenomenon might be related to the increased use of men's cosmetic products, and the market for these products had tremendously expanded during the last decade.
Age of Onset ; Allergens ; Ammonia ; Ammonium Chloride ; Arm ; Cosmetics ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mercuric Chloride ; Nickel ; Patch Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Scalp

Acute annular urticaria is a morphologic subtype of urticaria, characterized by the acute onset of annular, arcuate and polycyclic erythematous wheals. Angioedema of the face, hands and feet and dermographism are often associated. Systemic symptoms are usually limited to fever of short duration. Patients with acute annular urticaria are usually benefit from the oral antihistamine, and systemic corticosteroids are rarely required except in the most severe cases. Episodes usually resolve within 8 to 10 days. Acute annular urticaria is more common in infancy and early childhood. We report a case of acute annular urticaria in a 9-week-old male infant whose skin lesion developed 3 days after the vaccination against diphtheria and poliomyelitis.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Angioedema ; Diphtheria ; Fever ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Poliomyelitis ; Skin ; Urticaria ; Vaccination

Pityriasis rotunda is a rare disease characterized by round to oval, sharply defined, hypopigmented or hyperpigmented, scaly patches of variable number and size located trunk and extremity. The etiology is unknown but it has been associated with a variety of systemic illnesses, such as tuberculosis, malnutrition and malignancy. The first case was a 28-year-old male who presented with a 2-year history of multiple round shaped hyperpigmented patches on the trunk. The second-case was a 38-year-old female who presented with a 2-month history of circular, sharply defined multiple patches with ichthyosiform scaling on the trunk. Both patients had no systemic disease or familial history. We experienced 2 cases of pityriasis rotunda on the trunk without underlying systemic illnesses or familial association.
Adult ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Ichthyosis ; Male ; Malnutrition ; Pityriasis ; Rare Diseases ; Tuberculosis

Clear cell syringoma has two distinct features from typical syringomas: histological predominance of clear cells and a correlation with diabetes mellitus. Otherwise it is similar to ordinary syringomas in age, sex, site, and clinical manifestations. We here report a 49-year-old male with clear cell syringoma accompanied with diabetes mellitus. Histological examination revealed numerous, variable-sized, well-defined tumor nests composed largely of clear cells that stained positive with PAS (Periodic Acid Schiff) before diastase digestion and negative after diastase digestion.
Adult ; Amylases ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Digestion ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Syringoma

Pancreatic endocrine tumors (PET) are rare neoplasms of the pancreas and account for less than 5% of all primary pancreatic malignancies. Included in this group are insulinomas, gastrinomas, glucagonomas and somatostatinomas. Collectively, these neoplasms are classified as functional PETs. When a PET is not associated with a clinical syndrome due to hormone oversecretion, it is referred to as a non-functional PET. Non-functionalPETs are pancreatic tumors with endocrine differentiation but lack a clinical syndrome of hormone hypersecretion. Although a pancreatic carcinoma shows aggressive biological behavior, a cutaneous metastasis from a pancreas carcinoma is rare. We report a case of a case of a cutaneous metastasis from an endocrine pancreatic carcinoma in a 50-year-old female that clinically manifested as a painful firm nodule on the back.
Female ; Gastrinoma ; Glucagonoma ; Humans ; Insulinoma ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Somatostatinoma

Cutaneous focal mucinosis is a rare condition that manifests with asymptomatic small white to flesh-colored papules on the face, neck, trunk and extremities. Johnson and Helwig first described it in 1961 and it is histologically characterized by localized accumulation of mucin in the upper and mid-dermis with scattered spindle-shaped fibroblasts. We report here on a case of cutaneous focal mucinosis that presented as a nodule with several small papules on it on the face.
Extremities ; Fibroblasts ; Humans ; Mucinoses ; Mucins ; Neck

Argyria is a rare cutaneous discoloration caused by the intake of silver or various compounds containing silver. We report a case of argyria in a 73-year-old male following ingestion of colloidal silver as an alternative medicine over 5 years. He had a diffuse, slate gray discoloration of his face and hands. A biopsy specimen from the face revealed brown-black extracellular granules in the upper dermis and between collagen bundles. We also found silver particles in the mucous of the colon. The ingestion of colloidal silver appears to be increasing among patients using alternative health practices. We report this case to bring people's attention to the problems associated with the ingestion of colloidal silver.
Aged ; Argyria ; Biopsy ; Collagen ; Colloids ; Colon ; Complementary Therapies ; Dermis ; Eating ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Silver

Papillomatous melanocytic nevus is a clinical type of melanocytic nevus, and this has also been described as keratotic melanocytic nevus or seborrheic wart-like melanocytic nevus. Although the pathogenesis of this phenomenon is not well recognized, some hypotheses do exist, such as it is an abnormality that occurs at some stages in embryonic development. There is also the possibility that dermo-epidermal interactions exist. On our review of the medical literature, there are only four Korean cases of intradermal nevus that have developed as papillomatous melanocytic nevi. We report here on a Korean case of a compound nevus with features of papillomatous melanocytic nevus.
Embryonic Development ; Female ; Keratosis, Seborrheic ; Nevus ; Nevus, Intradermal ; Nevus, Pigmented ; Pregnancy